That's the only way to win. With hard work. Says the winner. For at least six months, she worked on her performance, trained daily, kept a diet, left nothing to chance. In the end, that's exactly what paid off for Loreen. Time and time again, the Swede had put on a terrific and absolutely perfect performance in Liverpool, flawless, as if from another planet. Also on the final evening. Nevertheless, she could not be sure that she would be the first woman and the second artist after Johnny Logan to win the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) twice.
Peter-Philipp Schmitt
Editor in the "Germany and the World" department.
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The expected duel between Finland and Sweden, between Käärijä and Loreen, took place on Saturday evening. After the jury's vote, it still looked like a march through for the winner from 2012. Fifteen times alone, Loreen received twelve points from the judges, eight times ten and twice eight points. From all countries, except Sweden, of course, the juries awarded points for the 39-year-old Loreen. After the first round, 340 points were scored, almost twice as many as Israel (177 points) and Italy (176). Finland even followed in fourth place with 150 points after almost half of the count.
Nordic duel
But it was foreseeable that the Finn Jere Pöyhönen, better known as Käärijä, was far from defeated. The 29-year-old singer had made the Liverpool Arena go wild every time with his "Cha Cha Cha". And indeed: With 376 points from the tele-voting, he shot past everyone and with 526 points provisionally in first place. Now Loreen was behind. Italy (174 points) and Israel (185) were no competition for the two. Presenter Graham Norton took his time, but at exactly midnight he announced the result: Loreen got 243 points from the audience, which made a total of 583. Loreen, who had remained surprisingly calm until then, slapped her clawed hands in front of her face. Only then did she begin to cheer and make her way to the stage to receive her trophy and sing her winning song "Tattoo" once again.
Loreen made history. And this in a different century than Johnny Logan, who won twice in the eighties, when the ESC was still a completely different event. To repeat this at the world's largest entertainment show, which is now high-tech, and which now has twice as many participants as 40 years ago, is a much greater achievement. With Loreen's second victory, Sweden also drew level with Ireland in terms of numbers: seven. However, Ireland's last victory was more than a quarter of a century ago – in 1996, while Sweden have won for the third time in the past 13 years alone.
Germany last again
Germany, on the other hand, again ended up in last place. Lord of the Lost had put on a good performance, but the glam rock number "Blood & Glitter" was still not convincing. If there are 26 candidates to choose from, but only ten points (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12) can be awarded, there is a good chance that some artists will end up empty-handed. For the most part, this was also the case with the band from St. Pauli. Only the judges from two countries, Iceland and the Czech Republic, awarded points to Germany, once two and once one point. In addition to the three dots, only 15 of the audience were added, which was devastating. The United Kingdom, this year's hosts, still came in penultimate place with Mae Muller and her song "I Wrote A Song" – with a total of 24 points.
This meant that two of the Big Five countries, which are always seeded in the final, were caught again. France finished 16th (104 points) and Spain 17th (100 points). Only Italy, as almost always, performed excellently, and for the tenth time since 2011 with a top ten place. What else was the reason for Germany? Metal or harder rock was probably not the order of the day this year. Rock in the rather old-fashioned style of the Canadian band Saga from the eighties, on the other hand, does, as Voyager from Australia proved with their progressive rock-pop number "Promise". The band came in ninth place with 151 points.